Florida State University

January 9, 2015 | The inaugural College Football Playoff series proved to be an exciting departure from the old BCS format with a pair of very different bowl games on New Year’s Day. Oregon decisively routed Florida State in the Rose Bowl (59-20), giving quarterback Jameis Winston and the Seminoles their first loss since November 2012. In the Sugar Bowl,…

November 4, 2014 | Complaining about about seven-figure donors to gargantuan outside spending groups has become almost as commonplace as griping about the weather. But that doesn’t mean the little guy doesn’t count. OpenSecrets Blog looked at the top 10 senators and House members who received the most money in small donations ($200 and less) as a share of the…

October 3, 2014 | They may be called super PACs, but they can’t be everywhere at once. It’s become fashionable for these committees, which can spend unlimited amounts on ads backing or attacking candidates anywhere in the country, to tout their allegiance to a state. But as often as not, an OpenSecrets Blog analysis found, they run mainly on out-of-state money. We tallied up…

January 15, 2014 | In anticipation of the Supreme Court's ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Sunlight Foundation have teamed up to look at the deep-pocketed donors who could give even more if the justices strike down another limit on the amount of money in U.S. politics.

December 5, 2012 | The 10 universities headed to BCS bowls this season also have been politically active and have spent a combined $1.5 million lobbying and $2.7 million on campaign contributions. Stanford, by far, has spent the most with almost $300,000 on lobbying and $1.7 million in contributions.

October 30, 2012 | Super PACs and nonprofits unleashed by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision have spent more than $840 million on the 2012 election, with the overwhelming majority favoring Republicans, particularly GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. The spending helped close the gap on Obama's considerable fundraising advantage over his rival.

October 8, 2012 | CRP's collaboration with the Investigative News Network, the National Institute for Money in State Politics and news outlets in seven states yields a close look at wealthy donors' wide-ranging giving.

October 3, 2012 | With less than five weeks remaining until Election Day, conservative super PACs remain on a roll with their outside spending against President Barack Obama. And this week, he's come under attack again.

August 31, 2012 | Although the Romney campaign refuses to publicly release the list of its donors, a number of these elite fundraisers (those who have raised $1 million or more for the campaign) enjoyed a celebratory gathering on a yacht Tuesday. OpenSecrets Blog was at the marina to witness the comings and goings.

August 16, 2012 | Lobbying on the DREAM Act made strange allies on Capitol Hill. A new poll shows Mitt Romney ahead in some key battleground states. And the DCCC hits Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Mich.) on Medicare.

November 11, 2011 | More companies, unions and other groups could lobby the Department of Veterans Affairs this year than ever before, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. Through the end of September, 254 organizations reported lobbying the VA.

August 10, 2011 | One-fifth of the 377 joint fund-raising committees active during the 2010 election cycle received at least half of their donations from one sector. Less than one percent of candidate committees, on the other hand, typically received 50 percent or more of their donations from one sector during the same time period.

March 22, 2011 | Federal political committees materialize every week, although the ones that typically attract notice are those backed by high-profile politicos or special interest groups. So, in the absence of national attention, why form a national-level political committee in the first place?

March 4, 2011 | Which politicians do you decide to support with campaign cash? If you are part of the fraction of one percent of the country's population that donates money to politicians, researchers at Vanderbilt University suggest the answer is the "economically relevant" ones.

February 1, 2011 | The 2012 Democratic National Convention will convene in Charlotte, N.C., a city already bursting with political love for President Barack Obama: Its residents favored Obama with their campaign cash during his 2008 presidential bid and its voters helped the Democratic Obama edge out Republican John McCain to win the state's 15 Electoral College votes.

November 30, 2010 | The years leading up to the 2010 midterm election have been an important stretch for gay rights advocates, but you wouldn't necessarily know it by gauging the amount of money invested this cycle by gay and lesbian rights groups and their donors.

October 20, 2010 | In the run up to the 2010 midterm elections, Soros joins a handful of young, emerging political heavyweights, many of whom are related to other prolific political donors. And they're helping tip the scales toward Democrats in the competition for students' campaign cash, the Center's analysis indicates.

October 7, 2010 | These ZIP codes share a common and commanding distinction: They're the most politically generous in their respective U.S. states, power centers boasting outrageously out-sized clout given their tiny sizes.

October 5, 2010 | Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a Tea Party-loving conservative who wants to shake up and remold the institution he currently calls home, stands above other lawmakers in the frontier of creative uses of leadership PACs to aide fellow candidates.

October 4, 2010 | Dollars spent on lobbying are set to increase over all other years if spending remains on its current course. And in context of 2010 congressional campaigns, the top lobbyist-funded House and Senate candidates have received more than $9 million to fuel their campaigns.

September 30, 2010 | This fall, Republicans need a net gain of 39 seats to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Some of the seats most likely to flip from the Democratic column to Republican control stem from the retirements of sitting Democratic incumbents.
And when it comes to competing for these open seats, Republicans own a financial advantage.

September 28, 2010 | Incumbency is a monumental obstacle to overcome for any political challenger. But 11 congressional challengers -- nine Republicans and two Democrats -- have managed to raise more money than their incumbent rivals, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis found.

September 22, 2010 | Geriatric medicine. Woodworking. Business. Psychology. Educators may have varied academic interests. But some of the most politically active of them share one thing in common: the habit of donating huge sums of money to federal candidates, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal campaign records indicates.

August 24, 2010 | It's judgment day for candidates in four states representing far-reaching corners of the U.S., as voters in Vermont, Alaska, Arizona and Florida hit the polls today and decide party nominations for races in the House and Senate. Two races in particular have caught our eye, for the sheer amount of cash being thrown around.

July 23, 2010 | Incumbency is a monumental obstacle to overcome for any political challenger. But 10 congressional challengers have managed to raise more money -- an average of about $640,000 -- than their incumbent rivals, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis found.

July 14, 2010 | OMB HEAD SPINS OUT, NEW ONE SPINS IN: Jacob Lew, Obama's new pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, has more than 30 years of experience in Washington, spinning through the revolving door between the public and private sectors on multiple occasions.

June 28, 2010 | On the campaign trail, Republican Linda McMahon has proclaimed her freedom from special interests as she spends millions of her own dollars on the race. At the same time, she is opposed to legislation that supporters say would help other candidates be equally as liberated.

September 11, 2009 | Florida's Republican governor, Charlie Crist, tapped his former chief of staff and long-time adviser, George LeMieux, to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy left by the early retirement of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). Over the years, LeMieux, and wife, Meike, have also occasionally made campaign contributions to Crist.

September 1, 2009 | Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has made just three campaign contributions since 2003. Two of them have gone to socially conservative Republican Congressional candidates, one of whom voted to ban same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.

March 2, 2009 | The FBI hasn't been the only group continuing to investigate lobbying firm PMA Group, which specializes in securing federal earmarks for its clients. At the Center for Responsive Politics, we've expanded our original analysis of contributions from the lobbying firm to lawmakers, specifically those on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, to include contributions from PMA's clients, as well.

February 19, 2009 | Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has been the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee since 1999 and returned to his post as chair in 2007. Not surprisingly given his committee assignment, Bingaman's campaigns run, in part, on fuel from the energy sector.

October 9, 2008 | Not at all to the chagrin of oil and gas companies (and lawmakers who have received campaign donations from them), Wall Street is the new black for congressional candidates looking to link their opponents to an unpopular industry. As federal lawmakers have wrestled with an economic bailout plan worth $700 billion, candidates who have received contributions from the financial sector are on the defensive. Find out which candidates are filling their war chests with money from the finance sector in Capital Eye's final installment of Races to Watch.

October 6, 2008 | On its own, fundraising is a serious challenge; add the obstacle of navigating complicated campaign finance laws and it's enough to deter many from the political arena. However, individuals with deep pockets can finance their own campaigns, and unlike contributions raised from other people, there is no limit to how much personal money candidates can give themselves. Capital Eye takes a look at the top self-funders seeking congressional office this election cycle.

October 2, 2008 | Like reading tea leaves, one way to predict how a congressional race is going to go is by looking at the disparity in fundraising between the candidates. So far this election cycle, 280 House and Senate incumbents on November's ballot have collected at least 10 times more than the opponent they face in the general election. In this installment of Races to Watch, Capital Eye looks into why some of these incumbents have been such successful fundraisers.

September 29, 2008 | Barack Obama defended his decision not to accept public financing by arguing that running a campaign for the White House based on small contributions accomplishes what the public financing system aims to do but falls short of doing: curb the influence of outside interest groups. In many congressional races, the issue of who's backing the candidate--wealthy donors or everyone else--is finding its way into debates over the best way to fix the economy and whether campaign contributions and lobbying by the financial sector had anything to do with today's economic crisis. Capital Eye takes a closer look at some of these races.

September 25, 2008 | Private interests and members of the public aren't the only ones betting their money on the congressional candidates they hope will win (or retain) congressional seats. Lawmakers in both parties have a vested interest in seeing their own candidates succeed this November, with Democrats wanting to strengthen their majority and Republicans hoping to minimize their losses. Here we look at some of the candidates getting the largest cash infusions from their own parties, indicating a close race.

September 24, 2008 | It's the presidential eclipse: Every four years, media coverage about all angles of the race for the White House (significant or not) overshadows all but a handful of too-close-to-call congressional races. Yet, in the midst of an economic meltdown, record gas prices and a five-year war, there's no question that citizens care about who represents them in Congress, not just who moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. While other political analysts focus on the most competitive congressional races, Capital Eye will spend the next week profiling contests with an interesting fundraising angle--even those where the winner is pretty easy to predict.

August 14, 2008 | Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul.

July 10, 2008 | In analyzing the influence of private money on public policy, a great deal of attention is given to large special interest groups. Everyone has heard about Big Oil and Big Pharma. However, very few people know about the influence of fringe organizations such as "Big Golf" or the Australian meat lobby.

September 20, 2007 | Most donors in foreign countries appear to work in private industry, not in foreign service or the military, as first reported. The story has been updated to reflect this finding.)As globalization moves American executives to financial metropolises around the world and the Internet allows for easier connection among politically minded U.S. expatriates, the 2008 presidential candidates are expanding their fundraising efforts beyond the United States's borders.

October 23, 2006 | Without cash to spread their message, independent and third-party challengers once again struggle to compete against Democrats and Republicans. By Lindsay Renick Mayer October 23, 2006 | Three-term senator Joe Lieberman finds himself as a third-party candidate in Connecticut this year. He has raised at least $15 million. Todd Chretien is also an independent running…

September 13, 2006 | The advocacy groups that rose to prominence in 2004 have scaled back their federal activity this election. Instead, 527s are focusing on state issues and elections. Liberals have raised more money than conservatives. By Lindsay Renick Mayer September 13, 2006 | CLARIFICATION (9/27/06): The non-federal 527 activity mentioned in this story includes only the fundraising…

Count Cash & Make Change.

OpenSecrets.org is your nonpartisan guide to money's influence on U.S. elections and
public policy. Whether you're a voter, journalist, activist, student or interested citizen,
use our free site to shine light on your government.